The second proposal of the 2018 season invites you on an interesting journey through English sounds and, furthermore, through the history of brave indigenous people who inhabited the extreme south of Chile.

With three spectacular works and a new country as the protagonist: Great Britain, the University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble belonging to the Network of Professional Regional Orchestras of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, promises its attendees a captivating night of music and history around their second concert of the 2018 season, framed in the program 'The Symphony of Cultures'.

The event that will take place at the Municipal Theater of La Serena next Friday, April 20, will be led by a prominent Chilean teacher. This is the director Rodolfo Fischer, who will inject his orchestral imprint into this presentation inspired by British roots. “At the time these works were written, tourism did not exist and composers used the resource of knowing the styles of other countries to travel through the imagination, and therefore, what the Orchestra is proposing is very interesting. Symphony University of La Serena, because we are precisely returning to the root of origin of these pieces,” highlighted the guest conductor.  

Fischer, the figure who triumphs in Switzerland - the country where he has resided since 2003 - made a reference to the migration currently experienced in Chile, alluding to the multiculturalism that has inspired the professional orchestra of the Coquimbo Region to forge this ambitious season. “We find ourselves in an interesting moment when it comes to immigration, with many of our Latin American brothers arriving in our country. So, this trip to the symphony of cultures is very appropriate because it shows the stylistic differences that exist and that are specific to each nation,” said the teacher, confessing that he was happy to visit the region. “Finally I will be able to meet the University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra and work with them, I have wanted to travel to the north of the country for many years and the opportunity had not been given, so this is my first time and I am happy about that; especially with this program, which has quite elegant lines and requires complete technical mastery in terms of finesse of orchestral writing,” he expressed.

A trip to history

According to the program of this second concert of the season, the professional ensemble has prepared an exciting repertoire, a magnanimous journey that is difficult to refuse in which they will perform 'Two Pieces for Small Orchestra' by the English composer Frederick Delius, the work 'Song of cradle for Fuegia Basket' by the young national promise, Tomás Brantmayer, and finally, the Suite 'Dream for a Midsummer Night', Op. 61 by the conductor and pianist, the German Félix Mendelssohn.

As its composer explains, the piece "Lullaby for Fuegia Basket" was inspired by the story of an aboriginal girl from the extreme south of Chile who, in 1830 and at only 9 years old, was taken hostage by Captain Fitz Roy. , to live under European customs. “The La Serena orchestra commissioned me to create a work that responded to the theme of their concert based in Great Britain. During this search I chose to work with the story of Fuegie Basket, a Kawésqar native from Tierra del Fuego who was kidnapped by English settlers at the end of the XNUMXth century. XIX to be taken and educated in England, and later, returned to her place of origin (...), I have a particular fascination with the peoples of the south, that is why I decided to take the history of these indigenous people, with special interest in this native, because "I believe that she has been an invisible figure and, on the other hand, she represents the three greatest dispossessions currently present in Chile: being indigenous, being a woman and being a child, and that historical fragility is what I was interested in capturing through music," Bratmayer deepened.

The Chilean also referred to his participation in this season, confessing that he felt “honored to have received this call from the Universidad de La Serena Symphony Orchestra, because in general in Chile there are not so many possibilities for a composer to work with symphonic groups, and In that sense I feel very privileged, especially because I respect the work that this orchestra has with Chilean composition,” he expressed. In the words of maestro Fischer, Bratmayer is on the right track, “I met Tomás a couple of years ago and I think that his music, although it is in a contemporary language, always brings us closer through very human motives and stories, so we will have a pleasant surprise in that sense.”

The appointment is for next Friday, April 20, at 20:00 p.m., at the Municipal Theater of the regional capital. For those who attend, tickets can only be purchased at the theater box office, on the same day of the event, with prices ranging from $3.000 for the general public and $2.000 for seniors, while admission is free for school students and the University of La Serena, presenting her credential.

It should be noted that this new concert season is developed thanks to the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, from whom it receives part of its financing through Glosa of the National Budget since 2016; in addition to the support provided by the University of La Serena and the Municipality of La Serena, through its Department of Culture.

Source: Press Symphony Orchestra University of La Serena